


Game plan

by FluffyLlamacorn



Series: Friendly Neighborhood X-Men [1]
Category: New X-Men: Academy X
Genre: Gen, Getting the Band Back Together, but it's still going to acknowledge all the past suffering, mentions of the new gen x kids, super hero smash bros, super mario smash bros parody, these kids are a family forever, this is gonna be a fun time, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-04-30 09:55:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14494416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyLlamacorn/pseuds/FluffyLlamacorn
Summary: The former New X-Men decide to get back in the game and fight the hate and fear that got them hunted by helping the local people with their everyday problems. But first they need to renegotiate their roles and find out how well they work with each other these days.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megan’s playing video games with her friends as she realizes something kind of important. As they talk about it, she concludes there’s only one thing to do: It’s time to get back in the game.

“So, I was thinking,” Megan says in the middle of a game of Super Hero Smash Bros. with her old teammates as she makes Psylocke do a backwards backflip to avoid Wolverine claws from both sides, “did you notice the thing the new kids did under the last evacuation?”

“Which of them?” Vic asks as he gracefully makes Storm shoot lightning at Nori’s Northstar.

“Mainly that cute guy Roxy’s hanging out with these days,” Megan says while she tries to sneak up on Julian’s character to stab him with her psi-knife. She’s playing with Psylocke’s original pink outfit – because, uhm, yes? – but it’s just a skin, so she still has all her ninja skills. It’s a pretty neat combination. “The one with the hair.”

“Please don’t tell me you think Quintin’s cute,” Nori gags, about to punch Julian’s character at the same time as Megan will hit. Unfortunately, he has Emma Frost switch to diamond form just in time and neither attack affects him.

“Ew, no,” Megan agrees. “I mean, he does have good taste in hair colors, but I was talking about Hindsight. He was freaking out over all the mutant haters with guns.”

Santo chuckles. “It was hilarious. He couldn’t do _anything_.” His fighting strategy consists of button smashing his old school Wolverine into the closest target, which currently happens to be the modern Wolverine.

Cess, who plays as _their_ Wolverine and knows the game well enough for precision, rolls her eyes. “Be nice,” she tells him, deftly avoiding his wild attacks and responding with a strike that goes through his momentary lapse in defense.

“It _is_ a rather sensible response to mortal danger,” Sooraya defends politely, while summoning phoenix fire as Rachel Grey, using a skin with her neat coat from when they started the Jean Grey school.

Julian scoffs. “Mortal danger, more like random Tuesday.” He switches Emma back out of diamond form and engages Sooraya in a telepathic duel.

“Yeah, but that’s the point,” Megan says, happily trying to attack Nori with her telekinetic katana. “The new kids are actually civilians, not soldiers.”

Vic, currently flying high above the melee and disrupting fights with Storm’s thunder, has time to spare her a glance. “Uhm, yeah, we did this whole schism thing about that?”

“Well, yeah, but that was never gonna work for _us_ ,” Megan points out, just as her battle with Nori is overrun by Wolverines. “We all have too much PTSD to ever be normal again. But it’s actually _working_ for the new generation. That’s hella cool.”

“Do you have a point, Gwynn?” Julian asks, intensely focused on his physic duel. There’s some special game play for it where you can fight your opponent on the built in screen of the game pad instead of the main tv screen to represent fighting in a different plane or something. Megan has never really looked into it, she’s happy just being a pink, stabbity person who only uses her telepathy to break free from those battles. Julian, who always plays as Emma Frost, has become something of an expert in them. Sooraya seems to be holding her own, though. “Finally admitting you were wrong?”

“I just… I think it’s nice,” Megan says. She pauses. “I hope they get to stay children longer than we got to.”

They have a moment of silence. They always have a moment of silence when they mention their lost friends, directly or not. The game continues, but it simmers down to basic defense and no snide insults are muttered under breaths.

Then Vic ends it by releasing a huge thunder strike that hits the pile of physical fighters and shakes the psychic fighters enough to throw them out of their duel and everyone groans.

“That’s it, someone fastball special me at him,” Cess requests.

“Me too!” Santo demands. “Everybody against Vic!”

“Oh shit,” Vic mutters and starts a tornado around himself.

One Wolverine throws the other and then Sooraya throws the thrower using Rachel Grey’s telepathy. Julian captures Vic in a psychic battle, paralyzing him, and Vic starts button smashing to find the combo he needs to escape. He keeps floating and the tornado survives, though slower, but he can’t use it to throw either Wolverine off him as he had probably hoped. Add to this Northstar’s flight, Vic is quickly grounded and Megan gets the honor of taking him out using the focused totality of her psychic powers.

Vic groans and leans back into the couch, disappointed with being first blood.

“Well, that was fun,” Cess says, grinning happily. “Who’s next?”

Nori eyes her. “I’d say the person who made that happen in the most dangerous person around right now.”

“Bring it,” Cess grins and has Laura pose dramatically.

The fighting quickly dissolves into one-on-one fighting again, the overall efficiency of strategy quickly forgotten.

“Do you think there’s anything we can do to help?” Sooraya wonders as she’s holding Santo’s Wolverine back with a continuous fire blast.

“Huh?” Vic asks, the only person with time to be distracted

 “To help the new kids,” Sooraya explains. “To keep death from knocking at our door again.”

“How do you plan to stop death?” Julian scoffs, too focused on forcing Megan into a psychic duel to take thoughts seriously.

“Don’t be a jerk, Julian,” Nori says. She leans back in the big, fluffy armchair she’s sitting in and thinks as she uses both her and Northstar’s superspeed to keep up with Cess’ skilled attacks. “It’s the whole hated and feared thing. If we weren’t hated, we would never have been hunted. So we don’t need to fight death, we just need to fight…. Hate.” She sighs. “Because _that’s_ easy.”

“No, that _is_ easy,” Megan grins. “We just need to be likeable, right?” She pauses as she sees her game pad announce she needs to fight a psychic duel. “Julian, you’re off the team.”

“Wait, what team?” he asks. The fingers of his metal hands are moving really quickly, and Megan isn’t quite sure if he’s pressing randomly or actually good.

“Uh, the one we’re getting together?” Megan says as she starts button smashing to free herself. There’s probably a better method, but that would require spending time learning how to play the game.

“Yeah, come on, pay attention,” Vic snarks, leaning back and obviously thankful he doesn’t have to multitask anymore.

“But we need to be more than likeable,” Cess points out, stabbing Julian in the back with her claws, releasing his psychic hold on Megan and making him choose to turn into diamond. “We’ve always been likeable. If we’re going to make a difference, we need to reach out to people who would hate us.”

“What if we reach them before they learn to fear us?” Sooraya suggest, now subduing Santo’s Wolverine with telepathy as the fires weren’t enough. “We could try to help local communities with small problems that they can actually relate to.”

“Yeah!” Megan grins. “Guys, let’s save some cats from some trees.”

Nori groans. “Guys, I do _not_ want to be a model minority.” Possibly to underline this point, she takes this moment to reach and attack Megan again.

“That’s what Xavier’s dream has _always_ been about,” Vic reminds her.

“Yeah, and it sucks,” she groans. “Where’s Magneto when you need him?”

“Either saving the world or trying to take it over,” Julian says, Cess’ constant attack forcing him backwards. “About 50/50 which one it is right now.”

“So, wait,” Santo finally speaks up and stops trying to break the psychic hold to re-join the conversation. “Does this mean that my X-Dudes idea was actually, like, smart?”

“Why do you think Cyclops let us continue?” Vic asks.

Santo shrugs. “’Cause we didn’t die?”

Vic sighs fondly. It’s a thing he does a lot around Santo.

With no actual objections, Megan makes the decision for them.

“So, guys,” she asks. “What do we call ourselves?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the beginning of a thing I hope to continue for a while, but here's the thing: I don't have a large, overarching plot. I have some more set up stories to write before they're completely ready to start helping people (figuring out the last details, recruiting the last members), but I'm really hoping I can get some suggestions for missions to send these kids on from you guys. Please let me know if there's anything you'd like to see!
> 
> Also, if you don't follow me on tumblr, please check out the uniforms they're getting that inspired this whole project: http://llamacorn-productions.tumblr.com/tagged/rainbow-redesign-au


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once the idea has been accepted, it's time to agree on some things

“We can bring back the X-Dudes,” Santo suggests.

“We can also not,” Vic says.

“Guys, come on, it’s obvious. It’s time to be Hellions again,” Julian says.

“How about no?” Nori shoots him down.

“How about yes? You’re outnumbered, little mutant,” Julian shoots back.

“Don’t make me pull rank on you, punk,” Nori warns.

“Dude, what’s _your_ claim?” Julian asks.

“Uhm, we’re bringing back the team _I_ lead?” Nori points out. “Why would we name it after you?”

“Yeah, I don’t exactly _miss_ being a part of Hellion and the Hellions,” Cess admits. “The name always felt a bit reductive, even back when school rivalries meant something.”

“Wah- Traitor!” Julian yell and throws a pillow at her telepathically. She laughs as it hits her.

Megan giggles. “We definitely shouldn’t name a pr team after our rudest member.”

Julian makes a comically offended sound that makes his friends laugh and chuckle.

“I think Vic should lead,” Santo suddenly says before the laughter has died down. “If that’s what we’re nominating now.”

“Wait, what? Why?” Vic looks up at his friend next to him on the couch.

“’Cause you’re great,” Santo shrugs. He’s still looking ahead on the tv, even though someone paused their game. He’s not gonna die because someone turns it back on without a warning. “And you lead the X-Dudes, and you were the field leader of your old squad _and_ your new squad and you kept your head super cool in hell and you survived a year in the future… And probably more as well.”

“I, uh… thanks,” Vic mutters with a smile, surprised enough at the honest praise from his friend to let it show. “I try. Not sure I’m really ready to lead a proper team, but…”

“Well, if you don’t _want_ to lead-” Nori starts.

“That’s not what I said,” Vic cuts her off.

“I’m still the only person with actual experience,” Nori reminds everyone. “Also? My current squad is pretty obviously being trained to lead.”

“Yeah!” Megan agrees. “We have the coolest squad.”

“No offense, but aren’t you mainly there to teleport them around?” Cess asks.

“Oh, I’ll have my own team of X-Men someday,” Megan says with a satisfied grin before reverting to her normal, cheery smile. “But I am completely fine with not competing with all of _that_ ego over this one.”

“Hey, what about my year in the future?” Vic demands of Nori in the meantime.

“You didn’t lead enough people for it to count,” she deflects.

“Yeah, but you lead us during a war, Nori,” Julian says. “The whole point is that peace has arrived. We need a president, not a general.”

“Because you’re so well known for your people skills,” Vic points.

“By the way, what the hell, Santo?” Julian demands. “Hellions forever.”

“Yeah, but he’s Vic,” Santo shrugs like that explains everything, which, well. It sorta does.

Julian rolls his eyes. “Cess, Sooraya, you gotta stick with me.”

Sooraya shrugs politely. Cess narrows her eyes in thought. “I mean, I guess _Laura_ isn’t opposing you.”

“We’re obviously inviting her ASAP,” Megan adds. “Also David and Josh.”

“Obviously,” Nori agrees. “I can’t be the only New Mutant on the team.”

“They don’t get to lead,” Julian demands.

“Are we even sure we need a leader?” Sooraya asks. “At the very least, it will be a very different sort of leadership than we have been trained in. We’re not going to be fighting monsters. We’ll just be… helping out. We won’t need to know who to follow in a fight, but how and where to direct our attention. That’s decisions that can be made democratically over a longer period of time.”

“I mean, considering we can’t even decide on a leader, democracy might be a lofty goal for this group,” Cess points out. “But if it means we won’t have to decide on something right now, it sounds useful.”

“We still need to decide on a name,” Megan remembers.

“Do we want something old school? Because I can use my nerd knowledge to come up with some old X-team no one has brought back recently,” Vic offers.

“Hit us with the most obscure one,” Cess challenges.

“Uhm, I don’t think anyone has used the X-Terminators since Inferno?” Vic says.

“Did they die horribly?” Nori checks.

“No, they joined the New Mutants.”

“Even worse,” Julian declares. “What else is there?”

“X-Terminators sounds very… aggressive, in any case,” Sooraya says. “We need something that’s a bit more… friendly. And open.”

“Oooooooh, I got it!” Megan grins. “Julian, you had classes with Spider-Man. How persnickety is he with copyright claims?”

“Yes, we are absolutely still pals,” Julian says in a complete monotone.

“Considering he’s cool with the other Spider-Man running around, I don’t think he’s gonna come after us for making spider puns,” Vic says. “Why?”

“My friends,” Megan proudly declares. “We’re gonna be known as the Friendly Neighborhood X-Men!”

“That’s dumb,” Julian says.

“Better than Hellions,” Nori points out.

“Not that that’s saying much,” Vic reminds her.

“I mean, it’s no X-Dudes,” Santo scoffs, hard to impress.

“It doesn’t send the _wrong_ image…” Sooraya considers.

“Yeah, why not? Let’s do it,” Cess agrees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a longer break than intended. Next up: The outfits that inspired the whole thing!


End file.
